Club Zero
One of the most talked-about films at the recent Cannes Film Festival, Club Zero is a bold and distinctive film by Jessica Hausner, the director of Lourdes and Little Joe. Mrs. Novak (brilliantly portrayed by Mia Wasikowska) arrives at a private school to teach conscious eating. The students start trusting her unconditionally, embarking on daring experiments that stray further and further away from safe, healthy, and eco-friendly philosophies like "mindful eating." Hausner stretches her film between a funny and cutting satire, and a gripping thriller. She weaves a tale about a faltering education system, selfish parents, and eventually the jaded and detached upper social class, at times reminiscent of a crazy spin-off of Triangle of Sadness. Club Zero also speaks about the art of manipulation and the need to belong to a community at any cost. True to Hausner's style, the film is formally refined, with every frame perfectly composed, and a precise selection of colors evident in every scene.
Jessica Hausner
An Austrian director and screenwriter. She has been running the coop99 production company since 1999 along with Barbara Albert, Antonin Svoboda, and Martin Gschlacht. She made her directorial debut in 2001 with the full-length feature Lovely Rita, a portrait of a young girl trapped in a complex web of family relations. Her subsequent films premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Festival in Cannes. In 2016, Hausner became a member of the jury for that same section of the festival. Her most successful work remains Lourdes (2009), which was an award winner at festivals in Venice (FIPRESCI, SIGNIS, and a Sergio Trasatti Award), Warsaw, and during the LUX Awards, and Sweden's Guldbagge Awards.
Filmography
2001 Lovely Rita
2004 Hotel
2009 Lourdes
2014 Szalona miłość / Amour fou
2019 Kwiat szczęścia / Little Joe
2023 Club Zero